We cannot find quick and easy answers for Frequently Asked Questions; if we could, people wouldn’t keep asking them. That means that they’re worth looking at simply as a way of understanding why maybe these aren’t exactly the questions we need to be asking.
The question about baptizing ET usually brings a smile, but even though we can’t come up with any definitive answer (let’s wait until we meet ET!) it’s a wonderful question if only because it makes us think about what baptism means, what redemption means, and what it means to be human… human, as compared to what?
¿Bautizarías a un extraterrestre?
Article (blog post) 1100 words Level: all audiences This article by Enrique Solano of the Spanish Virtual Observatory-Centro de Astrobiología in Madrid, Spain, provides a concise overview of the discussion of the subject found in the book Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?: . . . and Other Questions from the Astronomers’ In-box at the Vatican Observatory, by Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J., and Fr. Paul Mueller, S. J., both the the Vatican Observatory. Solano writes: Ésta es la pregunta que realizaron a Guy Consolmagno, actual director del Observatorio Vaticano durante una rueda de prensa en Birmingham en el año 2010. Su respuesta: “Solamente si lo pide”. Lo primero que debemos dejar claro es que, hasta la fecha, no hay ninguna evidencia de que los extraterrestres existan y/o se hayan puesto en contacto con nosotros. Es curioso como, justamente estas últimas dos décadas que es cuando cualquier persona gracias a su teléfono móvil cuenta con una cámara para grabar un posible avistamiento, coincidan … Continue reading →
Across the Universe: The Ethics of Extraterrestrials
This link to a Tablet column (and now a blog post) by Br. Guy Consolmagno reviews a discussion of ETs and aliens that was held during a meeting of astrobiologists at NASA Ames.
Continue reading →Approaching “Would you baptize an alien?” from the perspective of a Jesuit astronomer
Article (PDF) 5300 words Level: all audiences In November 1995, Fr. Christopher Corbally, S. J., an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory, presented the annual Nash lecture at Campion College. This is the published text of the lecture. [Click here to download PDF]
Continue reading →Questions and Answers with Fr. William Stoeger of the Vatican Observatory
Videos (5) Each video approximately 3 minutes Level: all audiences Fr. William Stoeger, S. J. (1943-2014) was a staff scientist for the Vatican Observatory Research Group in Tucson, specializing in theoretical cosmology, high-energy astrophysics, and interdisciplinary studies relating to science, philosophy and theology. In these videos from Loyola Productions Munich he responds to a variety of questions. The videos were recorded in 2001.
Continue reading →Talking science and God with Science Magazine
This link to an interview with Br. Guy Consolmagno explores some of the assumptions behind the question of baptism and Ets.
Continue reading →The Evolution of Intelligent Life on Earth and Possibly Elsewhere: Reflections from a Religious Tradition
Given the possibiligy of extraterrestrial intelligences, theologians must accept a serious responsibility to rethink some fundamental realities within the context of religious belief. What is the human being? Could Jesus Christ, fully a human being, exist on more than one planet at more than one time?
Continue reading →Vatican space explorations
Article 1600 words Level: all audiences A general overview of questions pertaining to space and the Vatican, from Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly, 2009. Vatican space explorations Study of astronomy reminds us of the beauty of the universe — and its Creator OSV Newsweekly Why does the starlit sky hold such a profound fascination for us? Perhaps because it is there that we encounter, commingled, the mystery of light and darkness — two primal experiences connected with the beginning and end of human life. Perhaps it comes from seeing the order, both overt and occult, in the movements of the celestial spheres, with which we sense ourselves secretly involved. Perhaps it is because we feel so small before the starry universe: like a straw tossed into the ‘great sea of being,’ we feel ourselves confronted with destiny…” So begins Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo in his introduction to the new book “The Heavens Proclaim: Astronomy and the Vatican” (Our Sunday Visitor, $39.95), which celebrates the … Continue reading →
Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? (An excerpt from the Introduction)
Exerpt from the introduction to the book Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? (with imbedded video).
Continue reading →Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? The Colbert Report
Video 6 minutes Level: high school and above A short piece from The Colbert Report on Comedy Central in which Colbert constructs a caricature of thought regarding extra-terrestrial intelligence and then interviews Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J., of the Vatican Observatory. Click here to go to the Comedy Central page with this video.
Continue reading →¿Bautizarías a un extraterrestre?
Article (blog post) 1100 words Level: all audiences This article by Enrique Solano of the Spanish Virtual Observatory-Centro de Astrobiología in Madrid, Spain, provides a concise overview of the discussion of the subject found in the book Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?: . . . and Other Questions from the Astronomers’ In-box at the Vatican Observatory, by Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J., and Fr. Paul Mueller, S. J., both the the Vatican Observatory. Solano writes: Ésta es la pregunta que realizaron a Guy Consolmagno, actual director del Observatorio Vaticano durante una rueda de prensa en Birmingham en el año 2010. Su respuesta: “Solamente si lo pide”. Lo primero que debemos dejar claro es que, hasta la fecha, no hay ninguna evidencia de que los extraterrestres existan y/o se hayan puesto en contacto con nosotros. Es curioso como, justamente estas últimas dos décadas que es cuando cualquier persona gracias a su teléfono móvil cuenta con una cámara para grabar un posible avistamiento, coincidan … Continue reading →
Across the Universe: The Ethics of Extraterrestrials
This link to a Tablet column (and now a blog post) by Br. Guy Consolmagno reviews a discussion of ETs and aliens that was held during a meeting of astrobiologists at NASA Ames.
Continue reading →Approaching “Would you baptize an alien?” from the perspective of a Jesuit astronomer
Article (PDF) 5300 words Level: all audiences In November 1995, Fr. Christopher Corbally, S. J., an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory, presented the annual Nash lecture at Campion College. This is the published text of the lecture. [Click here to download PDF]
Continue reading →Talking science and God with Science Magazine
This link to an interview with Br. Guy Consolmagno explores some of the assumptions behind the question of baptism and Ets.
Continue reading →Vatican space explorations
Article 1600 words Level: all audiences A general overview of questions pertaining to space and the Vatican, from Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly, 2009. Vatican space explorations Study of astronomy reminds us of the beauty of the universe — and its Creator OSV Newsweekly Why does the starlit sky hold such a profound fascination for us? Perhaps because it is there that we encounter, commingled, the mystery of light and darkness — two primal experiences connected with the beginning and end of human life. Perhaps it comes from seeing the order, both overt and occult, in the movements of the celestial spheres, with which we sense ourselves secretly involved. Perhaps it is because we feel so small before the starry universe: like a straw tossed into the ‘great sea of being,’ we feel ourselves confronted with destiny…” So begins Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo in his introduction to the new book “The Heavens Proclaim: Astronomy and the Vatican” (Our Sunday Visitor, $39.95), which celebrates the … Continue reading →
Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? (An excerpt from the Introduction)
Exerpt from the introduction to the book Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? (with imbedded video).
Continue reading →Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? The Colbert Report
Video 6 minutes Level: high school and above A short piece from The Colbert Report on Comedy Central in which Colbert constructs a caricature of thought regarding extra-terrestrial intelligence and then interviews Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J., of the Vatican Observatory. Click here to go to the Comedy Central page with this video.
Continue reading →The Evolution of Intelligent Life on Earth and Possibly Elsewhere: Reflections from a Religious Tradition
Given the possibiligy of extraterrestrial intelligences, theologians must accept a serious responsibility to rethink some fundamental realities within the context of religious belief. What is the human being? Could Jesus Christ, fully a human being, exist on more than one planet at more than one time?
Continue reading →